â??The future of shooters is RPGsâ?? â?? Bleszinski

Epic Games’ distinguished design director Cliff Bleszinski believes that RPGs will mould the future of the shooter genre.

Speaking to Develop, Bleszinski said: “I had a conversation with Harvey Smith – one of the lead designers on Deus Ex – and said to him the future of shooters is RPGs. He said he completely agreed.”

Bleszinski’s comments followed his praise of Ken Levine for his work on Bioshock, a first-person shooter that is sometimes considered an RPG in disguise.

“There was a time when the industry warmed down,” Bleszinski added, “and then Bioshock came along.”

True to form, Bleszinski was cryptic when discussing the Gears franchise in this light. When asked if it was important that the Gears series remains innovative in the future, he said:

“It depends on where things go. I mean, one could wean that from the comments I made earlier about the future of shooters is RPGs and see where things are going with us.”

He did not, of course, explicitly say that he was working on a certain shooter title that would incorporate RPG elements.

Bleszinski’s comments were made in part two of his interview with Develop, which is available now.